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After Syracuse’s 75-69 loss to the University of California last weekend, head coach Felisha Legette-Jack heralded it as a positive sign. The Orange hung with a 20-win team to the bitter end.

“I think that we did some really good things in our defense, and we really played a great team well,” Legette-Jack said on Wednesday. “We were right there. We gotta learn some lessons as players and as a team.”

SU also moved within five in the second half versus No. 9 North Carolina Thursday, falling 68-58. It traveled to No. 11 Duke on Sunday, looking to continue its momentum. But among a season of poor showings, the Orange hit another low against the Blue Devils.

Sunday in Cameron Indoor Stadium, Syracuse (10-17, 4-12 Atlantic Coast) had one of its worst games of the season, falling 80-49 to Duke (21-7, 12-4 ACC). The Orange scored six points in the second quarter and entered halftime down 41-19, their lowest-scoring quarter and half of the season. After wins from Miami and Pittsburgh earlier in the day, the loss ties SU with the two squads for the last two ACC Tournament spots.

Though a win over the Blue Devils would’ve been unlikely, a 31-point blowout provides zero confidence going forward. With the Hurricanes and Panthers struggling this campaign and SMU and Wake Forest seemingly locked into the bottom two spots, Syracuse realistically needs just one win to secure an ACC Tournament berth.

And it had all the momentum it needed after competing with both Cal and UNC. Legette-Jack even tried changing things up, using all 13 of her players versus the Blue Devils. But neither the lineup changes nor the close losses ignited anything.

Initially, Georgia Woolley propelled Syracuse to an early 4-0 lead. The senior had percolated leading up to Sunday, averaging 19.8 points over SU’s last four games. She drained two straight shots from the paint on its opening possessions, part of a team-leading 14-point effort.

But only Sophie Burrows (13 points) matched her success. SU only had three scorers 13 minutes in and ended with just Woolley and Burrows over six points. Legette-Jack said SU’s four freshmen — Keira Scott, Olivia Schmitt, Shy Hawkins and Madeline Potts — who combined for 14 points, needed to step up going forward.

“The more (the freshmen) get a chance to get out there and have that experience, the better they’re going to be,” Legette-Jack said postgame. “Hopefully one of those rookies will step up and give us more points and rebounds.”

Following five Syracuse turnovers, Duke took an 8-6 lead after the first media timeout. The Blue Devils consistently pushed the pace and drove to the rim, where the Orange surrendered 40 points versus the Tar Heels. Duke outscored SU 42-14 in the paint Sunday.

The Blue Devils’ defense — which entered second in the ACC with 59.1 points allowed per game — also suffocated Syracuse. The unit forced low-percentage attempts and a shot clock violation from Izabel Varejão, continuing to get its way defensively the rest of the game. As a result, Duke led 20-13 after one quarter following a Taina Mair corner 3.

But in the second, the game completely unraveled. Duke outscored SU 21-6 en route to its 41-19 halftime lead — Syracuse’s largest first-half deficit since trailing 48-21 to Boston College on Jan. 19. It was an awful display of basketball and a representation of its underwhelming season thus far.

With seven players averaging over six points per game and Duke’s leading scorer, Toby Fournier, providing a spark off the bench, it spread out its scoring to keep piling on. Ashlon Jackson hit two shots in the paint to mark the eighth Blue Devil scorer 12 minutes in. This pushed the score to 28-15 before a Legette-Jack timeout.

Out of the break, SU saw no change. Mair drilled another triple and Delaney Thomas hit a fast break layup to cap a 13-2 Duke run. And Syracuse still couldn’t respond, heading into the locker room with an insurmountable deficit.

Legette-Jack said postgame the team extensively discussed their first-half struggles at the break, looking for any way to right the ship. But nothing stuck.

Syracuse didn’t score until four minutes into the third, a layup from Kyra Wood. In that span, Duke tacked on seven more points, with Reigan Richardson canning a trey from the left wing to make it 48-19. The Orange finally got going after Richardson’s make, with Woolley and Burrows hitting three straight triples to make it 50-30. But they couldn’t keep Duke down for long.

Fournier and Jackson — who tallied 22 and 10 points, respectively — responded to the Orange’s 9-0 run with seven combined points, heading into the fourth up 60-35.

The final 10 minutes were more of the same — the Orange floundered and Duke scored at will. This sealed SU’s second-lowest-scoring game of the year and fourth loss in a row.

Despite Legette-Jack feeling Syracuse had momentum coming off its close loss to Cal, it moved back to square one Sunday. With just two games to go, the Orange are teetering on the ACC Tournament field and will need to find that spark again to extend their season.

“I certainly think we should communicate about something, a young team like us who’s trying to find our identity, who really did a tremendous job in this conference in the last couple of years,” Legette-Jack said.

Published on February 23, 2025 at 4:15 pm

Contact Noah: njnussba@syr.edu | @ Noahnuss99